Talk:छु

@-sche: I can't find much information on Memba. Do the references you cited give sufficient evidence for merging it with Tshangla? —Μετάknowledge^{discuss/deeds} 22:59, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

Despite the difference in name and in the lects' words for water (which confused me at first, too), they are said to be the same language, yes — though it is always possible that some things which are labelled "Memba" might be mislabelled, because that name is a form of "Monpa", an ambiguous term. The Sino-Tibetan Languages (edited by Randy J. LaPolla, Graham Thurgood) says: "Tshangla is spoken in western Arunachal, near the border of Bhutan. The same language, sometimes known as Sharchopka, is the predominant language of the neighbouring region of Southeastern Bhutan. In China the language is known as 'Cangluo Menba' or 'Motuo Menba', and in Arunachal it is often referred to as 'Central Monpa'[.] 'Monpa', however, is derived from the Tibetan word for 'non-Tibetan' and it has been used in so many ways as to risk losing clear reference. 'Tshangla' is at less risk of ambiguity (Michailovsky 1994). 'Memba', sometimes used for a language spoken in Northernmost Arunachal, is probably an alternative spelling of the same word." (S. Cable (2012) says the same thing more tersely.) Origins and Migrations in the Extended Eastern Himalayas (2012, →ISBN) adds that the people who Indian authorities call the "w:Memba people" are Tshangla-speaking — and many reject the ethnic label "Memba", which for them it is limited to Monpa people of the Tawang region. (Origins and Migrations in the Extended Eastern Himalayas says "in 1968, the Indian government philologist B. Shastri stated in his notes of a tour in the Siang valley that the dialect of the Memba in the Tuting area is virtually the same as that of the Monpa in Kameng District" near Tawang.) And Erik Andvik's 2010 Grammar of Tshangla explains that labelling a lect (not just a people) "Memba" or "Monpa" is also "unfortunate, in that it separates languages which should be grouped together, while joining under a common name languages which should not be grouped together (cf. also van Driem 2001). Thus Bhutanese Tshangla (Sharchopka), Cangluo Monpa (Sun et al.) and Das Gupta's Central Monpa are closely related and apparently mutually intelligible varieties of a single language, while Northern Monpa and Cuona Monpa are distinct from these, and should be grouped with Bumthang of Central Bhutan (cf. Aris 1979: 121-2; also Mazaudon 1992)." (The Languages and Linguistics of South Asia: A Comprehensive Guide, citing Andvik, says "Tshangla (Sharchopka), Cangluo Monpa, Central Monpa" are spoken in "Eastern Bhutan, Memba in Arunachal Pradesh", helping to clear up the ambiguity of Andvik's Grammar using only the spelling "Monpa" and never mentioning "Memba" as such.) The Memba Language Guide cited in the entry documents the speech of the so-called Memba "living in Mechuka valley in the West Siang district, and Tuting and Gelling Valleys of the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh", which is the northernmost part of Arunachal (cf LaPolla above) and is where WP says the Tshangla-speaking "Memba people" live. - -sche (discuss) 03:54, 17 September 2016 (UTC)